Survivor: Pearl Islands, Episode 12 MVP – Well, You Had Me Fooled!

Wow. That is the only word I can use – WOW! I must admit, they had me thinking that Lill was the one gone so much that I actually almost started to shed a tear. It was only when I saw that third vote for Christa that I knew my precious Lill was safe. There were several revelations that I saw this episode. The first was that as much as Jon lies, everyone is still stupid enough to believe what he says. The second is that Burton is not a very good liar and trips over the things that he says. And the third thing I realized? Well, the third was the identity of the MVP and the honorable mention. I think both of them this week did an amazing job at finally entering the game and showing who they were. Well, I know you’re curious as to who I picked, so read on my friends!

As far as the honorable mention is concerned, I had no problems picking Lill for this one. I can’t believe how well she swims. In the reward challenge, I was thoroughly impressed with how fast she swam. That is not the real reason that I picked Lill as the honorable mention this week though. I think finally – after 31 days – Lill has finally entered the game strategically. After figuring out that Burton was not going to watch over her forever, Lill finally realized that winning immunity is the only way you don’t have to worry. Some have said that all Lill does is coast along, and to an extent, I agreed. However, now I think that Lill understands that nobody that is left in the game can be trusted.

When Lill was at tribal council, I think she was a bit nervous in thinking that she was going to be the one voted off. I think the others did a good job with voting off Christa instead because they feel that Lill is not that great at physical challenges. I disagree. She is certainly better than Sandra, and to an extent, possibly Jon! Lill is a lot smarter than she was when the game first began and her progression has been enjoyable to watch. As much as I like her, she was a bit naïve, but I think that is changing. Next week is going to be her toughest week and I can only hope that she catches on to the lies that Jon is throwing her way and does the smart thing in voting him, or possibly Burton, off. That’s why Lill got the honorable mention this week – for figuring out what she has to do.

Hmm, how do I put this next part? Okay, here we go: Anything I’ve ever said about Darrah not being able to measure up to the others when it comes to physical or mental challenges – I take it back. This week, Darrah was the star of the reward challenge. She basically won the challenge for her team because she is such a good swimmer, especially topless. Well, I don’t know about the last part, but it couldn’t have hurt her. Darrah was a force to be reckoned with and it’s pretty cool to see that the others are starting to see her as a threat as well, demonstrated by how Christa was talking to Sandra and Burton about how much of a physical threat Darrah could potentially be. The immunity challenge only helped me back up my reason for picking Darrah as the MVP as she stepped up three times and all three times hit the mark. I have to respect the underdog, and Darrah was certainly the underdog at the beginning of this episode.

There is another reason that I picked Darrah for the MVP. It’s the same reason that I picked Lill as the honorable mention – her ability to realize what’s going on. I think Darrah finally realized that she has power now that the alliances are dwindling and she is basically a free agent at this point. She weighed her options and did the smart thing in getting rid of Christa at tribal council, after blatantly lying to Sandra and Christa saying that her vote was going to Lill. Her lie was so shady that even I thought that she was going to vote for Lill. She didn’t, though, and proved that she was just as good at lying and backstabbing as the rest of them are. I have to say, Darrah really impressed me this week at how much she was learning how to play the game. I pegged her as another Amber (from Survivor 2) but she is not going to lie down and die, like Amber did. Nope, Darrah is fighting tooth and nail to stay in this, and doing a damn good job I might add. That is why I picked her as the MVP.

It’s tough for me to make a prediction about what I think may happen next week. If they were smart, they would just knock out Sandra, but I don’t see it happening. My guess is that one of three people is going: Jon, Burton, or Lill. I know, guessing three out of five isn’t that great, so I’m just going to say that Burton will get the boot. I’m not sure how, but that’s the way I think it’s going to go down. He shouldn’t have been so vague with Lill when she asked him about their alliance, and I think that will come back to haunt him. Darrah and Sandra are safe next week, I guarantee it. One of them may even be the MVP. Although, we have learned this season that nothing is certain, and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Phil Kural is a senior at Temple University, and can be reached at pkural@temple.edu with any MVP suggestions.

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